Aliso Viejo revealed its Aliso Viejo Exchange (AVX) website to the public on Wednesday, which is described by Councilman Phil Tsunoda as a "one-stop shop clearinghouse" for volunteer opportunities.

The website, which cost the city nearly $40,000, wasn't a surprise to the media, who got a sneak peek of it on Monday morning. It's now at alisoviejoexchange.com.

Tsnuoda said he came up with idea when a friend of his, who is a den mother for a Cub Scout troop, said her cub scouts had difficulty finding community service projects.

We the Creative, a Newport Beach based marketing company, created the website, which features a YouTube video intro. The home page features volunteer opportunity boxes, including an option to volunteer for Tsunoda, along with two tabs – "How it works" and "I need volunteers."

The main image of the website is a young woman putting her hands in the shape of a heart and the number "600" to her left, indicating the number of volunteer opportunities on the site. The woman shown does not live in Aliso Viejo, Tsunoda confirmed.

Most of the images in the posts don't appear to be taken in Aliso Viejo. However, City Manager Mark Pulone said these images will be traded out over time.

Tsunoda said although it's starting with nonprofits, schools and churches, he thinks eventually individuals could take part.

"At the end of the day I view that individuals also could post – like I did," he said Monday. "If my neighbor has some yard work he may need some help with or painting of his house or something like that. I couldn't see a downfall for having that individual post..."

Right now, the website is purely for governmental agencies and nonprofits, City Manager Mark Pulone.

"Would I have voted for it, based on what I've seen thus far, I would probably say no," Councilman Mike Munzing said on Monday.

Tsunoda said he was inspired by Match.com, which was easy to navigate and fun to scroll through. There is a volunteermatch.org, which provides volunteer information and listings locally.

Munzing and Councilman Ross Chun said they weren't privy to the meeting on Monday. Chun happened to be in the building on Monday and asked to sit in on the meeting, however Tsunoda declined. Pulone said a discussion between the council members in such a meeting could constitute a Brown Act Violation. However, sitting in on the meeting, without discussion, would not.

Pulone brought this up at the end of the City Council meeting and said he would like a policy created that would require notification of City Council.

"To me, it's not good practice. Everyone should know what's going on. And the idea that it was a dry run to present to the press – that's counterintuitive," Chun said Monday. "I know Phil said he wanted it to be a surprise for the council but I don't like surprises."

Chun, who has more than 15 years experience in web development, questioned how the value of the site would be measured.

The site's traffic will be measured with Google Analytics, We the Creative said. There is no way to track if people volunteer through the website.

Chun said $37,500 might seem like a lot of money to some, but the costs will be higher in the long run, taking into account maintenance, software updates and hosting.

Aliso Viejo is budgeting $12,000 a year for maintenance of the website, three times more than the estimate from March 2012, according to documents. To compare projects at a similar pricepoint, Aliso Viejo is currently accepting bids for its $50,000 Canyon Wren street rehabilitation project.

There was no council discussion the website at the City Council meeting. Tsunoda spoke for a few minutes and Mayor Carmen Cave transitioned to the next agenda item. When asked if there would be an opportunity to discuss the final result before it went live with the newly formed council, Pulone responded: "The intent of Wednesday is to give a presentation on the completed website. Like the city's website, it really is a work in progress. Either this week or into the future if the council gives direction for changes, staff will ensure those changes are made."

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